Day 256, Year 1: Uncooperative Weather . . . Another Change in Plans
Date: Friday, June 30, 2006
Weather: Unsettled and Windy with Lumpy Seas
Location: Cook’s Bay, Moorea
Well, here we are back in Cook’s Bay, Moorea. We made a decision last night to leave today for Huihine in the late afternoon, arriving there early on Saturday morning. We kept the rental car for another four hours this morning and did some shopping. The Paul Gauguin cruise ship came in yesterday and was still here today. We knew that meant that the vendors would have their booths set up near the wharf. Since Mark and I were in Papeete all day yesterday we had not gotten to shop with Mary Ellen and Lee, and they wanted us to see some of the wares . . . so off to shopping we went. We found more good deals on black pearls and Mary Ellen found some great South Pacific clothing.
We returned the car around noon and went back to Windbird for lunch and to take a nap before heading out for our overnight trip to Huihine. It continued to be windy in the anchorage, but we really thought it was settling down. Around 4:30 PM, we weighed anchor and motored through the pass. It was much windier and the seas were much lumpier than we expected. It was blowing a steady 28 and although the seas were only eight to ten feet, the period between waves was very close together. And then we discovered that the auto pilot was just not working right. Mary Ellen was at the wheel trying to hold the course while Mark and Lee were trying to figure out the problem. It was very rough and with my leg in a cast, I was not much help. The decision was to go on overnight and hand steer in rough seas or go back to Cook’s Bay. Even though it delays us another day, the decision was an easy one. We got back into the bay after dark with the well lit pass and lighted range lights guiding us.
We had already fixed dinner so all we had to do was reheat and eat. Everyone is now sitting in the cockpit and we are making plans for tomorrow. Hopefully we can get the auto pilot fixed and the winds will calm down. We will try again late tomorrow afternoon to set sail for Huihine. If all goes well, we will arrive there very early on Sunday morning.
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| 060630 Day 256 Society Islands, Moorea–Messing About |
